A Feathery Tale
by Yungicurus
Summary: Oneshot. Harry, Ginny and little James share the last few moments of Christmas Eve and no better way to spend it than telling James a bedtime story. As they sit in Burrow and snow covers the surrounding fields and forests in white, nothing can be more exciting, right?


_**A Feathery Tale**_

It was late at the Burrow. While the snow softly touched the Earth outside the cottage, warm, glowing light was emitted from the windows inside. In the living room Harry, Ginny, and young James were seated on the couches around the fireplace. Albus had been brought to bed an hour ago. The radio softly chirred in the background as the announcer spoke softly.

'A very fine Christmas evening to you all, dear listeners. We end this night with a song by Celestine Warbeck,' the announcer was heard saying as a tune with saxophone and tuba gently filled the room. Ginny scratched James' hair.

'Why did everyone go to sleep?' he said.

Ginny smiled. 'Grandma and grandpa are tired.'

'I don' wanna,' James replied. He yawned. 'Rosie and Teddy, mumma?'

'Tomorrow,' said Harry. He glanced at James. The fire was cackling slowly in the fireplace as James voiced a deep desire.

'Why can't they be here?'

'They're not flying,' Ginny said. 'They can't appear like a phoenix out of thin air.'

'Phoenix!' said James, his eyes widening. He looked at Harry. 'Do I get a Phoenix for Christmas, daddy?'

Ginny and Harry laughed.

'No, James,' Harry said. His expression saddened. Harry put his arm around his son.

'I do like to tell you a story about it,' Harry said.

'With dragons?' blurted James. Ginny laughed.

'No.' Harry couldn't suppress a smile, either. 'But it is exciting. Do you want to hear it?'

James nodded.

'Alright, alright,' Harry said, reshuffling himself in a comfier position on the large couch. He gestured to James to come on his lap. James obeyed. Ginny came closer and held Harry's hand. 'You have to be silent when I tell you the story, okay?' Harry said while holding his index finger in front of his mouth. James nodded.

'Alright,' began Harry, as Ginny took her cup of hot chocolate from the wooden table in front of her. 'Once, a long, long time ago, when your mother and I were only a little bit older than you, we were planning to have a nice day in London. Our plan was very simple, really: we would go to Diagon Alley, stop at Quality Quidditch Supplies for new kneepads for your mother and see your uncle Ron at Weasley Wizard's Wheezes. So, there we went, your mother and I. We floo-ed ourselves into Diagon Alley and it was amazingly crowded. Back then, almost no packages were sent by Automatic Broomstick droppings. In any case, we were at Quality Quidditch Supplies in no time. Your mom found some nice kneepads, pink, I believe-'

Ginny gruntled.

'-Or blue. We said goodbye to Mr Jameson, the shopkeeper, and exited the shop. Just as we left, we saw Neville. He was looking confused, almost a bit dazed, and came up to us straight away, his mouth open but not saying anything.'

'What was wrong with him?' James said.

Harry frowned. 'We didn't know. Suddenly, Neville looked at your mother and started talking about lost feathers and fires. We were worried that his place was set ablaze, even though he only works with plants, which are not exactly a fire hazard. But your mother had an epiphany.'

James shot a look at Ginny. 'What's an epiphany?'

'It's when you suddenly realize something smart.'

'Oh,' James nodded.

Harry glanced at Ginny. She smiled.

'Your mother,' Harry proceeded, 'asked whether Neville had lost something. Suddenly, Neville was talking. Very quiet and very fast, but he was talking. He had lost something! Not a plant, but something larger, something bigger.'

'A phoenix!' said James.

'... Exactly.' Harry affirmed. 'But the Phoenix had been lost in a very special way. Uncle Neville was really shooketh-'

'Harry, that's not a word,' Ginny interrupted sternly.

Harry scratched his throat. '… Uncle Neville was really confused about how the Phoenix disappeared. It happened when he was working in his laboratory. The Phoenix was resting in his usual spot in uncle Neville's greenhouse office but suddenly entered his laboratory cubicle through an open window. It sat on Neville's table, looked at him and ate a leaf of the Mandragoran plant. Poof! Then it disappeared!

'Oh!' James let out.

'Yes,' Harry nodded, 'Uncle Neville was very shocked. The Mandragora is a plant that has big, pretty leaves but these are not toxic to animals nor humans. However, Neville's Mandragoran plant was special; it had blue leaves, instead of its usual red-yellow. So, he was not sure what happened to his Phoenix.'

'So uncle Neville was sad?' asked James, his eyes wide.

'I think so,' replied Harry. 'But we wanted to help uncle Neville, so we went to search for the Phoenix.'

'An adventure', mumbled James, momentarily more interested in Harry's reindeer sweater.

Ginny glanced at Harry. 'You shouldn't leave out the details Harry, tell him how it went!'

'Unlike uncle Ron and aunt Hermione, we didn't go on the back of a dragon,' Harry resumed. Ginny gave him a look that indicated that that wasn't the story she was going for. He raised his eyebrows quickly and Ginny knew that although it had to do nothing with the story, Harry would gain and retain James' full attention for the next few minutes.

'Woah,' James said. He looked at his father.

'Quickly, your mom and I apparated to the grounds at Hogwarts and went to the greenhouses. To our horror, the greenhouses were a mess! Plants were laying down on the floor, baby Mandrakes were crying inside their soundproof magical bells and some pygmy puffs had hidden themselves behind broken flower pots. When we Apparated back to Diagon Alley, uncle Neville was nowhere to be seen.'

'Was he stolen?' blurted James.

Harry chuckled. 'No. But he was gone! Mommy and I went to look for him. We found him in Ollivander's. He was talking with the shopkeeper about the Phoenix, where it could've been, Ollivander is an elder gentleman with lots of knowledge and had had a similar Phoenix before-'

'-I want to get a wand,' James said.

'Later.' Ginny smiled.

'Anyway,' Harry continued, 'Phoenix always Apparate to specific places, places they have a connection with. Sometimes, they've been reborn from the ashes in specific spots, so it is likely that they go back to those when you found that they had disappeared. Neville's Phoenix was a special one, said to be the child of the Phoenix that used be from the old headmaster Dumbledore, so Neville already sent out for people to see if it was in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts. Shortly after, we received a message that it wasn't.

'Now, you might think he was gone, James, but then a very odd thing happened. Neville, your mother and I were getting a cuppa at Fortescue's. We were waiting in the shop to be served when we saw a little girl just outside the shop window – walking with what was obviously a blue Phoenix feather.'

'I didn't know Phoenix could do that.'

'That they could do what?' asked Ginny.

'Become a girl,' James said.

'Phoenix can't transform, silly,' she answered. 'The little girl had obviously gotten the feather just moments earlier. Neville was just looking for his Phoenix, and suddenly a little girl walked outside sporting a feather, blue nonetheless. That was more than a coincidence! I went onto the street because your father was clumsily failing to tell Fortescue himself that they were busy, but I managed to speak to the girl that just walked past.'

Her husband's expression was one of a child in a candy shop who was denied all the sweets. Ginny didn't mind, and soon Harry was grinning, for he continued the story without a moment's hesitation.

'Your mom learned from the girl that she had gotten the feather from a boy moments earlier. At the same time, Ollivander came out of the shop, saying that he had found blue Phoenix feathers in his storage room. The Phoenix apparently had appeared in the shop at a moment Ollivander was busy, and he'd missed it!'

'Someone stole it!' James said, stretching out a finger and pointing at the crackling fire in the fireplace. He yawned.

'We were not so sure. See, soon after loud gasps came from a little bit farther away in Diagon Alley, and we saw a boy running towards us. Behind him was a blue Phoenix, chasing him!'

James' eyes grew wide. Harry had his undivided attention.

'Luckily, Neville, your mom and I were on the street. Ginny speedily ran up to the boy and caught him, safely pulling him aside. At the same time, Neville ran towards the Phoenix, who slowed its pace at once. It recognised him and landed down on his right arm.'

'The boy was really sad,' Ginny added. 'He was sobbing and said he was sorry. The Phoenix was okay. Neville believed that it had experienced some kind of shock after having eaten the leaf and disappeared out of distress. Neville brought the Phoenix to Ollivander's, who agreed to take care of it for a short time. I think uncle Neville thought it was better to let the Phoenix be in the hands of someone who had more experience in taking care of such dangerous creatures than him.'

'But why did the boy have the Phoenix?' said James, stopping mid-sentence to yawn.

'He was in Ollivander's and thought it was really pretty. It flew out of the back window in the storage room, and when the boy wanted to return to Diagon Alley through a back alley, the Phoenix followed him.'

'Oh,' said James. He rested his head on Harry's chest, staring at the fire in the fireplace.

'Yes,' said Harry, 'that was a mistake. But you know, he learned a lesson, a good one as well, I don't think he has forgotten it since. I believe he's at Hogwarts now, and he's quite good at Quidditch, Hufflepuff Seeker, from what I've heard-'

Harry stopped speaking as Ginny lay her hand softly on James' brown hair and caressed it. The little boy was peacefully asleep. Harry glanced at Ginny. She chuckled, patting him softly on the arm. They shared a moment in silence. Their skin felt warm and soft.

'Well done,' said Ginny.

Harry basked in glory.

'I'm quite proud of myself,' he said.

'You should, you should, it's an achievement,' replied Ginny while she drank the last of her chocolate milk.

'Can't wait to try it out on the next one,' Harry added, softly caressing Ginny's round belly. She looked him in the eyes and put her hand on his'.

'I know,' she smiled.


End file.
